Is pairing the phone to watch with camera a trick?

[Nicklaus]

Does the phone actually scan something on the screen of the phone or is that just a fancy trick to get you to hold the phone close enough that NFC or something will pair?

 

[kovey]

It displays a unique image that is scanned by the phone. I saw it in one of the early reviews. I don't remember which but they showed a picture. It's not a gimmick.

 

[CharlieCat666]

Does the phone actually scan something on the screen of the phone or is that just a fancy trick to get you to hold the phone close enough that NFC or something will pair?

No trickery; it just displays a unique barcode type thing and the phone reads it.

 

[wesk702]

No, I'm assuming that when you open the app it turns on the Bluetooth on the iPhone end. Then when you frame it correctly, it should be within close range of activating the pairing. Don't really think any trickery is involved or anything more complicated than that.

 

[Payton]

From the Wired article: http://www.wired.com/2015/04/the-apple-watch/

When you first pair your Watch with your phone, you see a unique certificate of authenticity.

 

[Cuyler]

Does the phone actually scan something on the screen of the phone or is that just a fancy trick to get you to hold the phone close enough that NFC or something will pair?

They can't use NFC because it's only available on the latest iPhone models (and the watch can be paired with the iPhone 5 and later).

 

[VSMacOne]

I think it uses the picture to initiate the Bluetooth connection.

 

[sulpfiction]

No, I'm assuming that when you open the app it turns on the Bluetooth on the iPhone end. Then when you frame it correctly, it should be within close range of activating the pairing. Don't really think any trickery is involved or anything more complicated than that.

No, the phone actually reads something from the watch screen. It's not just so you hold it close enough. I've seen some other posts about "framing the watch" where people think that it's just a meaningless step apple added "for fun" and its really on using BT. I honestly can't believe anyone would think that. I didn't know what the reason or meaning was until just now when I saw the above post. But I also knew Apple would NEVER throw in a useless technique just for the sake of "fun" or just to make sure you were close enough for BT pairing.

 

[dedufour41]

Anyone who owns a GoPro camera and uses the iOS app to go along with it is already used to this technology. It is awesome to use and I've been doing this for over a year.

When the #⌚️ was first being discussed here and folks were talking about which apps they wanted to see, the first one I wrote here was GoPro. To be able to do all of your controls from your wrist is a no-brainer.

I use my iPhone as a view finder for the camera and then attached my GoPro remote to a wrist strap. The #⌚️ Could presumably handle both functions. The only caveat would be water submersion but I would say I use my GoPro underwater only half the time anyway.